Gift Bag with Motorized Effects

ABSTRACT

The gift bag of the present disclosure and related inventions combines a traditional gift bag with sound capabilities and motorized movement of a moving attachment. The gift bag contains a user-interactive switch which controls activating of the sound module which is operative to store and playback at least one audio file and also controls activation of a miniature motor which causing movement of a moving attachment. The moving attachment may be a die cut shape that combines with the artwork on the gift bag to form an entertaining character. The movement of the die cut shape may simulate the character talking, singing or dancing to the audio. The gift bag provides a form of wrapping or cover for a gift but also provides entertainment for the gift recipient.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/902,496, filed on Nov. 11, 2013, a copy of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/228,757, filed on Mar. 28, 2014, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/873,022,filed on Apr. 29, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,857,082), which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/743,806, filed onJan. 17, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,490,306), which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/447,403,filed on Apr. 16, 2012, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/940,145, filed on Nov. 5, 2010 (now U.S. Pat.No. 8,230,624), which claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/286,184, filed on Dec. 14, 2009.

A copy of each of the above-referenced patent applications isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of social expression products, andmore specifically to gift wrapping products such as gift bags havingmotorized effects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a representative embodiment, the present disclosure and relatedinventions are directed to an interactive gift bag which contains amoving attachment powered by a small motor that is initiated by a user.In addition to effecting movement of the moving attachment, the gift bagalso contains a sound module which is operative to store and playback atleast one audio file. The moving attachment may combine with artwork onthe gift bag to create an entertaining character which may talk, sing ordance upon user interaction with the gift bag.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the gift bag of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a close-up view of the front face of the gift bag of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a tear-away view of the electronic components located on theinside of the gift bag of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the gift bag ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a tear-away view of the electronic components located on theinside of the gift bag of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS

The gift bag of the present invention combines a traditional gift bagwith audio capabilities, a moving attachment and a miniature motor whichallows the moving attachment to move in an up-and-down, back-and-forth,or other reciprocal motion.

The gift bag 100 may be of a conventional design, having a front panel10A, a back panel 10B opposite the front panel 10A, with two side panels10C, 10D extending therebetween. The length of the side panels 10C, 10Dcontrols the width of the gift bag 100. A bottom panel connects each ofthe front 10A, back 10B, and side panels 10C, 10D to create a closed endto the gift bag 100. Opposite the closed end is an open end forinsertion of a gift or other items into the gift bag 100. The sidepanels 10C, 10D may contain a vertical bisecting crease or fold line 12,which enables the bag to be neatly folded and packaged for retail sale.The gift bag 100 may also contain two handles 14A, 14B, one handle 14Aattached to the front panel 10A and one handle 14B attached to the backpanel 10B. The handles 14A, 14B may be similar to a cord or rope-likestructure, which extend between two holes or openings positionedproximate to the upper edges of the front 10A and back 10B panels alongthe open end of the gift bag 100. For each handle 14A, 14B, a singlepiece of cord or rope-like structure is used. The two free ends of afirst cord are inserted into the two holes in the front panel 10A of thegift bag 100 and two free ends of a second cord are inserted into thetwo holes in the back panel 10B of the gift bag 100. The cords may beinserted into each hole from the outside of the bag to the inside of thebag where each free end of the cord is tied or knotted for secureattachment to the gift bag or alternatively, the cords may be insertedform the inside of the bag to the outside of the bag, where each freeend is then tied or knotted. Alternatively, the handles may be die cutout of the front and back panels of the gift bag. Handles may beattached from gusset to gusset or may be taped, glued or otherwiseattached to the inside of the gift bag. The gift bag 100 may alsocontain other types of handles, such as paperboard handles, plastichandles, or any other type of suitable handle with appropriateattachment mechanisms. The gift bag panels 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D maycontain drawings, images, photos or other printed indicia thereon. Theprinting on the gift bag may be coordinated with the shape, color ortheme of the moving attachment. Also, the gift bag panels 10A, 10B, 10C,10D may be traditionally shaped in the form of a rectangle, or thepanels may take on a non-linear, decorative free edge to add to thedecorative effect of the gift bag. The gift bag 100 may come in avariety of different shapes and sizes.

One or more of the gift bag panels 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D may bedouble-walled so that the electronic components of the gift bag may behoused between two panels of the gift bag 100. In a preferredembodiment, a moving attachment 16 is attached to the front panel 10A ofthe gift bag 100. In this case, at least the front panel 10A of the giftbag 100 is double walled so that the electronics may be containedtherein and attached directly to the moving attachment 16 via an openingin the front gift bag panel 10A. Alternatively, all walls 10A, 10B, 10C,10D of the gift bag 100 may be double walled to provide a gift bag 100with greater strength. Also, a moving attachment 16 may be attached toboth the front 10A and back 10B panels of the gift bag 100 or there maybe more than one moving attachment on one or more gift bag panels. Theelectronic components of the gift bag may include, but are not limitedto: a printed circuit board 18, an integrated circuit chip, a speaker20, a switch 22, a power source 24, a memory device, and any othercomponent which is necessary for or which facilitates storing andplayback of audio and movement of a moving attachment 16 via a smallelectric motor 26. The motor 26 may be of the type having a rotating armor shaft which creates oscillatory motion upon rotation of the shaft bythe motor 26. Or the motor 26 may have a rotating gear mechanism thatturns a circular gear. The moving attachment 16 is attached directly tothe motor shaft or gear or may be connected via an intermediateattachment mechanism 28. The motor 26 may be positioned in differentpositions within the gift bag 100 depending on the type of motion themoving attachment will effect. A push-button switch 22 is connected tothe circuit board 18 and located within the cavity created by the one ormore double walled gift bag panels. The push-button 22, in a preferredembodiment, is located near an upper edge of the gift bag 100 along theopen end, however, the push-button 22 may be placed anywhere on the giftbag 100. Printing or a sticker on the outside of the gift bag panel maydirect a user where to press to replay the audio and effect movement ofthe moving attachment 16. A user pressing the push-button 22, forexample, between a thumb and forefinger, will activate both the audioplayback and movement of the moving attachment 16. The push-button 22may work as a toggle switch which activates and deactivates the audioand mechanical motion with each press of the push-button 22.Alternatively, pressing the push-button 22 may activate the audio andmotion, which will continue for a pre-set period of time.

In a preferred embodiment, the moving attachment 16 is a die cut shape.The die cut shape 16 may take on the shape of a person, animal,character, or any other conceivable shape. The moving attachment 16 maywork in combination with artwork on the gift bag to create a singlecharacter. For example, the artwork on the gift bag may be a picture ordrawing of a taco. The moving attachment or die cut shape 16 may beshaped as the top of the taco and contain moving eyes 30 to create amoving and talking or singing taco. When the push-button 22 is pressed,the moving attachment 16 moves in an up-and-down motion while the audiois replayed, simulating a singing taco. The moving attachment 16 mayhave printing thereon and other embellishments, such as mentioned abovemoving eyes 30, such as googly eyes (clear, hard, closed plastic shellwith smaller black disk trapped therein which is free to move about), orother decorative trimmings which make the moving attachment 16, alongwith the artwork on the gift bag, appear as a person, animal, or anyother entertaining character. In another embodiment, as shown in thefigures, the artwork on the gift bag 100 shows a drinking or beverageglass and the moving attachment 16 is an umbrella. The umbrella containseyes 30 and the entire moving attachment 16 moves in an up-and-down orbouncing motion when the press-button 22 is activated. The movingattachment 16 may also contain two or more die cut shapes which areattached about a pivot point so that when the motor is activated, thetwo or more die cut shapes are able to move independently about thepivot point.

In another embodiment, shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the gift bag 200 of thepresent disclosure contains sound and motor modules which are triggeredby a pull switch 32 attached to one or both of the handles 34A, 34B ofthe gift bag 200. The gift bag and electronics are of the type describedabove with respect to the first embodiment. The gift bag handles 34A,34B may be of the type described above or they may additionally becovered by plastic. Picking up the gift bag 200 via the handle orhandles 34A, 34B pulls the handle or handles slightly upward, therebytriggering the switch 32 and activating the sound and motor modules. Inthis embodiment, the gift bag 200 may be decorated like a person's face,a monster face, or other entertaining artwork. The moving attachment 36may be, for example, a die cut shape which, along with the artwork onthe gift bag, appears to be the mouth or lips of the face depicted onthe gift bag 200. When the motor module is triggered, the movingattachment 36 begins moving in an up-and-down motion to appear as thoughthe character is talking or singing to the song or music which istriggered simultaneously with the motor module upon lifting the gift baghandle 34A or 34B. The moving attachment 36 may be a mouth, nose, eyesof a character or animal face or it may be another other conceivableshape. There may be more than one moving attachment and the one or moreattachments may be on the same face of the gift bag or on differentfaces of the bag.

One or more pre-recorded audio files may be contained on the memorydevice. The audio may contain a speaking voice, a singing voice,instrumental music, or any other recordable sound. In a preferredembodiment, the audio is coordinated with or complementary to theartwork on the gift bag and the moving attachment. The audio may containa single sound clip which may be replayed each time the push-button ispressed or it may contain several different audio clips which arerotated in a systematic or random arrangement.

When displayed at retail, the gift bag 100 may contain a transparentsleeve or band which extends around the gift bag 100 over the movingattachment 16 and optional googly eyes 30 so the attachment 16 does notget damaged or inadvertently separated from the gift bag 100 while ondisplay at retail.

The foregoing embodiments of the present invention have been presentedfor the purposes of illustration and description. These descriptions andembodiments are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventionto the precise form disclosed, and obviously many modifications andvariations are possible in light of the above disclosure. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciple of the invention and its practical applications to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in itsvarious embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. A gift bag comprising: a gift bag having a front panel, a back panelopposite the front panel, two side panels contained between the frontand back panels, a bottom panel attached to the front, back and two sidepanels creating one closed end with an open end opposite thereto; asound module operative to store and playback at least one audio clip; amotor module operative to effect movement of a moving attachment; themoving attachment connected to the motor module through an opening inone of the gift bag panels; a push-button switch located near a top edgeof the open end of the gift bag; wherein when the push-button ispressed, playback of the at least one audio clip is initiated andmovement of the moving attachment is initiated.
 2. The gift bag of claim1, wherein the moving attachment appears as a mouth of a characterprinted on the gift bag.
 3. The gift bag of claim 1, wherein the movingattachment is a die cut shape.
 4. The gift bag of claim 1, wherein oneor more of the front, back and two side panels are double-walled panels.5. The gift bag of claim 1, wherein the sound and motor modules arecontained on the inside of the gift bag behind one or more of the front,back and two side panels.
 6. The gift bag of claim 1, wherein thepush-button switch operates as a toggle wherein pressing the push-buttona second time deactivates the sound and motor modules.
 7. A gift bagcomprising: a gift bag having one open end for inserting one or moreitems into or removing one or more items therefrom; one or more handlesattached to the gift bag for carrying the gift bag; one or more movingelements attached to an outside surface of the bag, each of the one ormore moving elements attached to a motor module, the motor moduleoperative to cause movement of the one or more moving elements; a soundmodule operative to store replay at least one audio file; and a switchwhich controls activation of the sound and motor modules.
 8. The giftbag of claim 7, wherein the switch is a toggle switch.
 9. The gift bagof claim 7, wherein the one or more moving elements combine with artworkprinted on the gift bag to form a composite picture.
 10. The gift bag ofclaim 7, wherein the one or more moving elements are die cut shapes. 11.The gift bag of claim 7, wherein the switch is a press-button switch.12. The gift bag of claim 7, wherein the switch is triggered by pullingon the one or more handles.
 13. The gift bag of claim 7, wherein theswitch is triggered when a user lifts the gift bag.
 14. The gift bag ofclaim 7, wherein the one or more moving elements are on a front face ofthe gift bag.
 15. The gift bag of claim 7, wherein the one or moremoving elements are attached to the motor module through an opening inthe gift bag.
 16. A gift bag comprising: a gift bag having an openingthereon for the insertion and removal of items therein; at least onehandle attached to an upper portion of the gift bag proximate to theopening; a mobile object visible on an outer surface of the gift bag; amotor module contained and concealed on an inside surface of the giftbag, the mobile object attached to the motor module through an openingin the gift bag; a switch operative to activate the motor module, theswitch connected to the at least one handle, wherein picking up the bagby the at least one handle activates the motor module thereby causingmovement of the mobile object.
 17. The gift bag of claim 16, wherein themobile object is a die cut shape.
 18. The gift bag of claim 16, whereinthe mobile object combines with printing on the gift bag to form alarger composite picture.
 19. The gift bag of claim 16, wherein themobile object represents the mouth of a character or animal printed onthe gift bag.
 20. The gift bag of claim 16 further comprising a soundmodule which is operative to store and playback audio upon picking upthe bag by the at least one handle.